Turnover rate for Hong Kong preschool teachers hits 19.1% as 17 kindergartens close down amid shrinking birth numbers
- Preschool principals warn educators feel kindergarten jobs no longer secure, with many teachers switching to primary schools or leaving sector for good
- Source says authorities ‘do not see there are manpower issues in the kindergarten sector’, even as principals say graduates are reluctant to join industry
The turnover rate for Hong Kong’s preschool teachers has reached a record-high level of nearly 20 per cent, while official figures have shown 17 kindergartens closed down in the last academic year as the city grapples with a shrinking number of births.
Some preschool principals said on Thursday that teachers felt their jobs were no longer secure and had switched over to primary school positions or other fields, with institution heads noting the manpower crunch had made it difficult to hire replacements.
Education Bureau data released as part of the city’s new budget on Wednesday showed 19.1 per cent of teachers at local kindergartens left their jobs over a 12-month period ending last September, up from 17.6 per cent logged in the previous period.
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Hong Kong had 12,644 preschool teachers in the 2022-23 academic year.
The recent figure, which determines the turnover rate, is the highest level since such data became publicly available in the 2006-07 academic year.
A government source on Wednesday refused to comment on the current turnover rate and stressed it was an indisputable fact that the city’s student population was falling.
“We do not see there are manpower issues in the kindergarten sector,” the insider said.
The newly published data also showed the number of kindergartens in Hong Kong currently stood at 1,009, down from 1,026 in the last school year.
The preschool student population has also dropped by 5.3 per cent, going from 143,700 to 136,100 over the same period.
Education authorities have forecast that the number of kindergarten students will continue to fall, estimating the figure will drop 6 per cent to 128,300 for the next school year.
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Choi Lai-fong, a private kindergarten school principal and vice-chairwoman of the Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers, said the recruitment situation for kindergarten teachers was “very undesirable” and she felt educators were leaving the sector for higher salaries.
“The birth rate is very low in Hong Kong. Teachers feel their jobs are insecure and are afraid of being fired,” she said. “They will switch to work in primary schools or other sectors, which have better pay.”
Choi also said local kindergartens generally had an insufficient talent pool.
“Once the candidates are willing to attend the recruitment interview and report for duty, we will hire them regardless of their quality,” she said.
The industry leader added that other principals she knew had said they could not hire fresh graduates as most were reluctant to join the sector.
“The bureau’s officials, of course, found no problem with the manpower issues because it is us who face the hiring difficulties,” she said.
The current generation of youngsters studying at a preschool level was generally born between 2018 and 2020, a period when the city clocked nearly 150,000 newborns.
But the number of newborns in the following three years stood at 102,700, with the 30 per cent drop set to put greater pressure on the education sector in the coming years.
Kindergarten principal Nancy Lam Chui-ling, who is also a vice-chairwoman with the federation, said the gloomy outlook for the sector was pushing away teachers, especially veteran educators.
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“In the past, one teaching vacancy could attract more than 100 application letters, now we could only receive eight to 10 applications,” she said.
“Most of the kindergartens cannot offer salary increases to their teachers and some teachers’ salaries have remained stagnant for some years. Why would they be willing to stay?”
She added that brain drain and continuity issues were common concerns for the industry.
Unlike the primary and secondary schools, there is no official pay scale for preschool teachers, whose salaries are generally determined by each institution’s management.
The Education Bureau said the median salary for kindergarten teachers with less than 10 years of experience was HK$27,045 (US$3,455), while those with more than 20 years earned HK$35,915.
In comparison, a primary schoolteacher’s starting salary is HK$34,060.
The figures from the budget also showed the turnover rates for primary and secondary schoolteachers had come down from their previous peak levels, respectively sliding from 8.5 per cent and 9.8 per cent in 2022-23 to 7.8 per cent and 8.2 per cent in 2023-24.
The government has said it expects the rates to further drop slightly in the next school year.
